


falling for you

by fuckyestaehyung



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M, Swearing, jongin is clumsy af, so is jongin tbh, yifan is a flirt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 04:15:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11455785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fuckyestaehyung/pseuds/fuckyestaehyung
Summary: Jongin is clumsy and Yifan happens to live next door. When Jongin accidentally makes a hole in the wall, he doesn't quite know what to do, or how his neighbour will react.





	falling for you

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to thank my beta S for helping me edit this and giving me ideas when I was stuck. I would also like to thank my close friend Tae for helping me and motivating me to finish this. Thank you to the mods for being so patient with me. This is quite different to what I normally write, but it was a good challenge for me. I hope you like it!

 

In hindsight, Jongin really should've seen it coming.

 

He’d been procrastinating instead of tidying up his small apartment for well over a week, and to put it kindly — it was a mess.

 

There were dirty dishes everywhere, on every surface available, with _God knows what_ left in them to slowly rot away. His actual bed was no longer visible under the mountains of sweaty clothes Jongin had dumped before showering after dance practices every day.

 

But Jongin was Jongin, he was lazy, and if there was one thing he hated the most in the world, it would be chores.

 

He has been living by himself for slightly over two months now and up until about two weeks ago, he was doing well on his own. He’d been doing the dishes, making sure at least some of his clothes were decent enough to wear the next day, he had even cooked dinner for himself a couple of times. But all good things come to an end, and this was no exception to the rule.

 

To be fair, it started the way most of the bad things normally did. It had been an abnormally long day, Jongin found himself getting back to the warmth of his apartment later than he usually would, much later than most people would normally find acceptable. The day had started off okay, he’d been teaching a new dance to one of his classes at the studio he worked for, and everyone seemed to be picking it up pretty well, but for one of his students — Zhang Yixing —‘pretty well’ wasn’t good enough, he had asked Jongin to help him practice a little bit more after the class, so he could make sure he had  memorised all the moves they had learnt that day.

 

Although Jongin knew he could have politely refused, made up some excuse as to why he couldn’t stay, he was too kind and found himself helping the student out. The class had only learnt a short section of the dance anyway, how long could it possibly take?

 

Turns out, _three hours._

 

It took three hours for Jongin to finally call it and tell Yixing to go home for the night. At first, Jongin hadn’t noticed how much time had passed, but,  when he started to feel the drowsiness seeping into his limbs, from all the extra work he had forced his muscles into, he groaned. Yixing was particularly notorious for being a perfectionist, and Jongin hated to be the first person to call it in anything, so he had known that it was going to take a long time for either of them to stop for the night. Jongin had been extremely determined to make sure it wasn’t him that made the final call but in the end, his need for food and his lack of sleep over the last few nights caught up with him.

 

Jongin adored Yixing, he really did, but he adored sleep even more.

 

But then, Jongin was lazy, and if there were _two_ things he hated the most in the world it would be chores and not getting enough sleep.

 

He had made it back to his apartment that night without much of a struggle. The train that he caught from the studio back to the area in which he lived was pretty quiet, and Jongin got a couple seats to himself to spread out across (he might've even napped a little bit, but no one needed to know about that). The walk from the train station back to the apartment complex was also extremely quiet, he had managed to get to his front door without anyone hassling him which was always a plus.

 

It seemed though, that as soon as he opened his front door, all of his luck took a turn for the worse, as the universe decided to play a prank on him.

 

Jongin should've seen it coming. Really, he should've.

 

You see, the problem with Jongin's apartment is that the light switch isn't right next to the door like it normally would be. Instead, the main light switch in Jongin's apartment happens to be on the wall on the left-hand side of the main room; you walk into as you enter the apartment, and then about another two metres into the room. For anyone else, this wouldn't be such a problem,  you only had to walk a few steps forward into the room and then reach around the wall to your left, tap on the wall blindly, until you find the switch and you can see again.

 

But for Jongin, nothing was easy. And the universe just seemed to love playing around with him because one moment he is trying to find the switch in the pitch black room, and the next, he is tripping over ― what he thinks ― is a pile of old pizza boxes he had forgotten to move before leaving earlier in the day.

 

That in itself wasn't so bad, considering that Jongin had already done something similar while trying to find the light about three other times since moving into the apartment. The difference is that this time when Jongin finds himself reaching forward, to grab onto something to stop his fall, his hands do find the wall ― and then they keep _going_.

 

Then suddenly there is light coming into the room, but Jongin knows for a fact that he missed the light switch, and why is there warm air hitting Jongin’s arm? He hadn’t had time to turn on the heater in the apartment yet, so where was the heat coming from?

 

It takes Jongin about seven more seconds of sitting in a crumpled heap on the floor with his arm sticking through the wall, for the situation to finally hit him.

 

His arm was currently filling up part of the gap where there was, now, a giant hole in the wall, and the light and heat  were coming through that hole, and the only thing currently going through Jongin’s head was _oh my god_ and _I just wanted to eat and go to sleep_ because Jongin was Jongin, and he was a bit of a self-absorbed prick when he was hungry.

 

He decided he would just deal with his small quite big problem later, because he had priorities; and his number one priority at that point in time was food.

 

Well, it _was_ anyway, until Jongin looked once more towards the new hole in the wall, and noticed there was someone on the other side of the wall, also looking through; towards Jongin.

 

Jongin was sure the universe absolutely hated him by this point.

 

“Look, I’m extremely sorry about the wall, but it’s late and I’m _really_ hungry. So could we please just talk about this later? After I eat something? because then it will be easier for me to think of how I can fix this,” Jongin dared to look at the neighbour's face before he continued with a sigh. “Like I said, I am truly, extremely sorry about this and ― _oh my god you’re naked,”_ He was certain he was blushing by this point and he prayed that the light currently shining through the wall wasn't enough to bring this to the attention of the other man who was still looking at him.

 

Although Jongin had been living in the apartment for over two months by now, he’d never actually met his neighbour due to the fact that he didn’t have a normal nine to five job, or attend university, and as a result of this, he left his apartment at very unusual times of the day. He also didn’t know what the usual protocol for meeting new neighbours was, but he was pretty sure you are normally both _clothed_ the first time you meet.

 

The next time Jongin dared look through the hole in the wall, he was slightly surprised to see that the other man was smirking slightly and didn't seem too bothered with the situation at hand, he had put on some boxers though ― much to Jongin's relief ― but that also made Jongin wonder how much time had passed. For Jongin it felt like only seconds since he had accidentally fallen with his hand through the wall and had possibly ruined his life. But if the neighbour had gone and found some clothing (no matter how _little_ he did find) and manage to put it on in that time frame; It must've been at least a minute, if not more, and Jongin was still trying to figure out what to do.

 

To be honest, his mum had never told him what to do in a situation like this, when she was giving him survival tips, before he moved out. Instead Jongin had moved away from home with a collection of quick recipes, washing tips, and the bittersweet feeling of growing up that comes with leaving home.

 

“Hello. My name is Wu Yifan, and I guessing you’re my new neighbour? I don’t think I’ve seen you around since you moved in.”

 

Not for the first time that night Jongin was left stunned. Sure, Jongin had been the one to fall through the wall, but his neighbour - _Yifan_ \- had been the naked one, yet Yifan seemed much less uncomfortable in the situation out of the two of them. Jongin looked at Yifan, only to realise that the other man was still waiting for an answer.

 

“O-oh. Hi, I’m, um, Jongin,” _Dammit, Jongin, get it together. Why are you stuttering like a schoolgirl right now?_ “I moved in a couple months ago, but haven’t really had the time to meet anyone who lives around here, sorry.” It was in moments like these that Jongin found himself inwardly cursing at his shy nature when it came to meeting new people.

 

Although he had been getting better at communicating with unfamiliar people, Jongin now understand that isn’t the case when it comes to half-naked unfamiliar people - _who would’ve guessed?_

 

He knows he must look like a child considering the way he is avoiding making any eye contact with Yifan, instead averting all his attention to fidgeting with the hem of his shirt between his fingers. With a mumbled _suck it up Jongin_ to himself he continued with the situation at hand. “Once again, I’m really sorry about the wall. I don’t really know how I can fix it right now. Um, do you want to come over, while I make something to eat, so I can think of a way to fix it? Only if you want to, of course.”

 

He knew he was rambling, but he also didn’t want to stop talking without knowing that Yifan would break the silence that would occur as a result of his small rant ending. To Jongin, silence broken by rambling was less intimidating than pure silence. He paused slightly to look up his neighbour's face before continuing and _god dammit, is he actually smirking at me right now?_ The slight quirk in the other man's eyebrow told Jongin that Yifan was enjoying this way more than he should, and at that point in time there was nothing Jongin wanted to do more than to find a hole somewhere in the world and crawl into it.

 

He forced himself to continue and at least conclude his statement before finding somewhere to hide his newly acquired shame.

 

“I mean, I understand that it’s late and you probably want to sleep or something but, I’m more likely to think of a solution after I’ve had some food and this way we can also think of a temporary cover for the hole for tonight, or until it gets fixed? I’m rambling sorry, I do this when―”

 

“Let’s make some food then shall we?”

 

Jongin watched through the wall as the other man walked out of view after speaking. He hardly had time to be confused about what Yifan was doing before he heard a knocking on the door behind him.

 

 _Oh_. Right.

 

Jongin had just invited him over with the promise of food moments earlier, of course he would actually have to let him into his apartment if they were going to eat and figure out the situation. _Of course_ . It suddenly occurred to Jongin that the whole reason they were both in this situation was because he had tripped over something on the floor of his apartment. His very _messy_ apartment. The apartment that Yifan was waiting outside the door to and about to see in person.

 

_Oh God no._

 

Jongin was too tired to deal with this right now.

 

Reluctantly, Jongin opened the door, letting Yifan enter the mess which was his apartment. To his credit, Yifan didn’t comment on the disarray of the contents of the room, instead he walked directly into the far corner of the room that contained the fridge and other food storage. As the other man reached for the fridge Jongin braced himself for what he knew was going to come.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Honestly, is this the only food you have in your apartment?”

 

Jongin would have been offended - if he didn’t ask himself the same question almost everyday when he got home from dance. There was a total of two different options for his - now even Yifan’s - dinner that night; instant ramyeon or leftover fried chicken.

 

Yifan let out a sigh of dismay before opting for the ramyeon. Jongin swears he hears Yifan muttering something about chicken and style under his breath before he turns to Jongin and holds out the packets of noodles for him to take.

 

It was Jongin’s time to shine. Sure, he didn’t know much about cooking, but he did like to think that he knew how to make some bloody good ramyeon when he needed it. It’s one of the many things that being lazy had help him master over the years.

 

While Jongin was waiting for the water to boil, he watched Yifan shuffle through the pile of stuff that Jongin had left on the kitchen bench, until he found a blank piece of paper and a pen underneath the pile of manga.

 

“Okay so, while you’re doing that, we should think of what supplies we are going to need to fix the wall. I was thinking we could go to the hardware store and buy everything in the morning?”

 

At this point, most people would have - at least - a slight bit of idea of what things were needed to fix a damaged wall, but Jongin wasn't most people. No, Jongin was Jongin; and up until this point in his life he had never been in a situation where his parents weren't there to fix it for him.  

 

“So like, we need to fix the wall? So um, like? We need wall things.” Jongin had never wanted someone to save him from his self destruction so much before in his entire life.

 

The look that Yifan sent him was a mix between amused and disbelieving. “I’m hoping that was a joke but, I’m pretty sure you are being 100% serious right now, and it is kind of worrying me. How are you going to survive living alone like this? This means I’m going to have to do most of this myself then, doesn't it?”

 

Not for the first time that night Jongin is left wanting to retaliate before realising: everything being said about him is true.

 

A few minutes later, Jongin finishes cooking the ramyeon and sets the bowls down on an empty space on the kitchen bench - one for Yifan and one for himself. He’s happy to see that the other man has started writing down what looks to be a list of supplies they will need to pick up, although Jongin isn't too sure; due to the fact that he doesn't recognise many of the words in front of him.

 

They eat in silence as Yifan adds the final things to the list before he puts the pen down with a triumphant grin. “Okay, so, I think this is all that we will need. I think it would be good if we go to the store in the morning and pick everything up there. I can meet you here at about 10 am?”

 

Jongin replies with an affirmative hum before following Yifan as he walks out of Jongin’s apartment and back to his own.

 

They put up a couple sheets of paper to cover the hole in the wall that night, to give each other a sense of privacy, before they both do their own things for the rest of the evening.

 

In Jongin’s case; it’s trying to sleep. Trying being the keyword, considering the fact that he isn’t very successful. Instead, his mind is busy replaying all the awkward moments of the last hour. Jongin is surprised though, when he realises that even with the circumstances in which they had met, he didn’t mind spending time with Yifan.

  
  


The next morning was eventful, to say the least.

 

The day started off how it normally did - Jongin slept in. That normally wouldn't be so bad considering that he usually didn't have anything on in the morning, except today, he did. And he has a vague memory of Yifan saying they would meet at Jongin’s apartment at 10 am, which was in... _oh my god it’s already 9:45._

 

Over the years, Jongin had become pretty talented at getting ready in little to no time, considering the fact that he was Jongin after all, and it had become a _necessary_ skill in his life.

 

He’s in the process of trying (and failing) to put on a jumper when he hears a knock on the door. The rush to answer the door is hazardous - to say at least - despite his better judgment, he hadn't tidied up any part of his apartment yet, and trying to make his way through the minefield while his head is stuck in a jumper isn't the safest idea. He manages to make it to the door without tripping somehow, but he is pretty certain that he answers the door looking like a madman because of  how frantic his (15 minute) morning had been.

 

Jongin took some comfort in the observation that Yifan also didn't look too impressed with being awake at this time in the morning either.

 

The trip to the hardware store is quiet to say the least. Yifan happened to have a car and offered to drive them both. The offer had seemed great at the time, but now that they _were in_ the car, Jongin didn’t know how to break the silence.

 

He didn’t know if Yifan felt as awkward as he did - with the lack of noise surrounding them; maybe he was just tired and didn’t want to talk, or maybe he was just a quiet person and kept to himself most of the time?

 

Yifan does end up turning on the radio after five minutes of no talking, and Jongin notices him relax as he gently taps the steering wheel to the rhythm of the song. Although he is relieved that there is now a sound other than his breathing, it also makes Jongin slightly uncomfortable imagining how awkward he must look considering he’s scared to even move in fear of drawing extra attention to himself.

 

Why does _he,_ of all people, have to be shy?

 

“Am I going to have to carry you in?”

 

The amused chuckle from the man beside him breaks his train of thoughts, Jongin, jumping in his seat, he looks at Yifan with wide eyes.

 

Jongin realizes that he’d been so stressed about seeming uncomfortable – and in turn, getting _more_ stressed about it - that he hadn’t heard Yifan telling him they had arrived at the store.

 

The relaxed and care-free air Yifan seems to exhibit and the way he seems to constantly be in a state of contentment, is a big mystery to Jongin. Sure, he’s not one-hundred percent positive on it, since he’s only known him since last night, but he can’t help but envy how Yifan isn’t stressed. Over _anything_. It’s slightly unnerving. As much as he hates to say it, he’s quickly starting to realise that he he finds it hot too.

 

The two of them walk into the large store in front of them and immediately begin search around the appliance filled shelves to locate what could be used to mend the hole in the wall.

 

It’s pretty obvious that neither of them know what they are doing.

 

Neither of them ask for help, either.

 

After a few minutes of aimless wandering - and very little words spoken on Jongin’s part - does a savior in the form of an employee come their way.

 

He tries to read her nametag as she makes her way towards them. He can just make out what it says before she begins talking - Junghee.

 

Now that she is standing directly in front of him he notices that she is much smaller than he had originally thought, and if he’s being honest, he’s surprised a girl of her size would choose to work in a hardware store of all places (and get hired too).

 

“Hello! Can I help you two with anything?”

 

As Jongin opens his mouth to speak, he realises that even though he and Yifan had both agreed to pick up supplies to fix the hole, Yifan had never gone over exactly what they needed to buy. Instead, just writing the list himself, and leaving Jongin’s apartment shortly afterwards. So instead of a verbal answer, Jongin slowly turns his head to Yifan, and waits for the other man to break the silence.

 

Yifan is looking at him like he is expecting Jongin to answer the question. even though both of them are fully aware by now that he has absolutely no idea what the things are. After a couple seconds of Yifan looking down and him, and undoubtedly waiting for Jongin to embarrass himself once again, he shakes his head and lets out a soft laugh, before explaining the situation in a way that spares Jongin from some humiliation.

 

“Ah, well. We have a hole in our wall? And we aren’t exactly sure what we need to fix it…”

 

The girl nods and leads them to an aisle with shelves stacked high with plywood sheets and wall insulation, to which Jongin stares at blankly, his sleepy eyes not paying much interest to around him as he begins to zone out.

 

“Are you two dating?”

 

Jongin startles immediately, looking Junghee - who stares back at him with a bright smile and soft eyes. It’s a genuine, innocent question, and although Jongin is an adult who should act cool and unaffected by such a simple question, he is anything but as he sputters, cheeks turning a bright red.

 

“N-No! We’re just _friends_ !” His answer comes out too quickly, and it almost does more of the opposite than back himself up. He groans for the nth time in the last 24 hours, why was he so _awkward_? He gives up on trying to explain the situation and just looks up at Yifan, who just chuckles and scratches the back of his neck.

 

Yifan gets the list he had written the night before out of his pocket and passes it to the girl in front of them before she disappears into another aisle to get them the things Yifan had decided they needed to mend their wall.

 

If only the store had items that could somehow rewind Jongin’s life about 24 hours, so he could work on his brain to mouth filter and embarrass himself slightly less than he had so far.

 

He wasn’t going to listen to the little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he actually enjoyed the time he had spend with Yifan so far.  Because it wasn’t true, _not at all_.

 

…Maybe a little bit.

 

“Are you alright? You seem more quiet than usual. Are you uncomfortable or something?” Yifan asks, before turning to face him.

 

“Oh, I’m fine. I just don’t really know what to say to help in this situation. Sorr-“ Before he can finish, the girl returns with what seems like a mountain of stuff to Jongin.

 

The mountain seems to be made up of a set of goggles, heavy duty gloves, and a few planks of wood, along with many other things that Jongin doesn't recognise but he's sure that are probably used to fix a wall in some way or another.

 

“Looks like we’ll have everything fixed faster than we thought, _baby_.”

 

Jongin almost chokes on air when he hears the word, and he can see Yifan’s shit eating grin out the corner of his eye. He is vaguely aware of Yifan saying thank you to Junghee for helping them but that is currently being overshadowed by the fact that Yifan is resting his hand on Jongin’s butt and _oh my god what is happening?_

 

Moments ago Jongin had been scared to talk because he thought Yifan hated him for some reason, now he can’t talk because he's in shock: is Yifan _flirting_ with him right now? If he wasn’t so busy trying to regulate his breathing and keeping himself from turning bright red, he probably would’ve had a verbal freakout on top of his internal panic because _what the fuck, did Yifan just call him baby? Holy shit._

 

This must be Yifan’s way of teasing him, right?

 

He isn’t sure if he wants the world to open up and suck him in, or start yelling, because Yifan is _still_ touching him. Maybe it’s his neighbor’s way of making fun of Jongin, the casual slinging of his arm around his waist and giving him pet names like _baby_. They were in public and lots of people were looking at them, including Junghee, who watches the situation in front of her with an excited and amused smile on her face.

 

Jongin would have been a giggling and blushing mess by this point - if he hadn’t been trying so hard to keep himself from showing his enjoyment of the situation. He still won't admit it to himself about how much he enjoys the feeling of Yifan, and him standing to his side with an arm lazily resting on Jongin's waist and his hand slipping into Jongin’s back pocket.

 

Jongin refused to admit to himself that Yifan was succeeding in making him feel like a teenage girl around her crush.

 

They pile all the things they buy into a cart before walking out of the shop and back towards Yifan’s car.

 

Yifan’s hand stays in Jongin’s back pocket and Jongin doesn't try to make him stop.

 

As they get into the car they agree on buying some food before going back to their apartments (only after a minor argument - Yifan mentions that he doesn’t like fried chicken and that he will absolutely _not_ be going anywhere near Jongin’s leftovers for the second day in a row).

 

They end up settling for a small pizza place down the street, a few meters away from the hardware store mainly because both of them were craving something simple and had a weakness for fast food, but also partially because Jongin was too polite to tell him what he wanted actually wanted - fried chicken.

  
  
  


When they arrive, Yifan leaves Jongin standing in the doorway of the pizza place, as he goes directly up to the counter to order some food, and Jongin decides to be - a least - be useful, and searches for a place to sit. As he looked around, he notices that the establishment is filled with couples, pairs of teenagers or young adults sitting across from each other and taking selfies together or holding hands.

 

From what he could tell, the only exception seemed to be him and Yifan.

 

He sat down and occupied himself while he waited for Yifan to return with their food. Today, his occupying himself was limited to the things he had with him, so he fiddled with his phone and aimlessly tampered with the case, before zoning out of his surroundings completely. As a result of this, he was completely oblivious to the group of girls sitting at the table next to his, their bright eyes curved into crescents as they looked over at him in delight. His face did tend to have that effect on people, and normally Jongin would’ve used this knowledge to his advantage, but today had been made emotionally exhausting by Yifan and his flirty ways, and all Jongin wanted was a break.

 

It isn’t long before Yifan had returns, balancing a tray with fries and drinks in one hand and carrying a large pizza box in the other, dumping everything in front of Jongin as he sits down opposite him. Admittedly, his schedule didn’t allow him much time to go around the city, and dine much, so a change from fried chicken and ramyeon pots was actually quite nice, even if the food in front of him was just as unhealthy as the other two meals.

 

They make small talk as they eat and try to get to know each other more, Jongin learns that Yifan isn’t actually Korean but Chinese, and also quickly finds that Yifan is shocked at the idea that Jongin had never lived alone before.

 

“Honestly, it does explain a lot, the more that I think about it. I mean, you really seemed lost when we were picking up the supplies earlier, it showed that you had never had to do anything like that before.”

Jongin didn’t have time to defend himself before his phone rang, ID showing up as “Landlord”. As much as he’d love to eat, the call came at the perfect time to save him from being playfully teased by Yifan, and quickly, he picks up.

 

He doesn’t exactly know how his landlord found out about the incident with the wall - he blames Yifan - but the landlord didn't seem too fussed with the situation (after reassurance on Jongin’s part, that he would pay for the repairs due to the fact that he caused the problem in the first place.)

 

A minute or so into the call, he can hear Yifan’s deep and slightly irritated voice say “Your food will get cold if you don’t eat it soon,” to which he offhandedly nods, preoccupied on exactly what the landlord is saying. He’s so absorbed into the call, he even fails to hear the hushed conversation of the girls beside them, watching in glee as Yifan sighs and leans forward to move some pieces of the giant pizza in front of them and onto a separate plate next to Jongin.

 

Yifan gives another impatient sigh minutes later, when Jongin seems nowhere near ending the call (he honestly seems interested in the conversation), and it becomes apparent that no matter what Yifan does, the younger refuses to eat. He’s already halfway through _his_ part of the meal and in front of him, Jongin’s remains untouched.

 

Yifan decides that there is no other option but to take matters into his own hands. He picks up a now cold slice of pizza and stares down at it and contemplates if he should go through with his idea, before focusing his gaze on the dancer. It’s an idea that may or may not work, but he’s willing to find out.

 

Experimentally, he moves the pizza towards Jongin’s lips, who takes it into his mouth absentmindedly. Yifan smiles to himself and does it again, pleased to find that Jongin is remains complaint free and eating.

 

Sure, he may have been so distracted with the call that he’s not paying attention, if his lack of reaction is anything to go by, but Yifan is pleased feeding his neighbor the pizza (and sometimes his drink) every few seconds, fueled on by a mix of his own satisfaction - and the giggle of girls beside him every time Jongin leans forward to eat.

 

Yifan decides to reach for the fries instead, and offers it to a still distracted Jongin.

 

Before Jongin takes a bite this time, he wraps slender fingers around Yifan’s wrist to gently bring his hand closer, before taking a large bite of the fistful of sauce-covered fries, ketchup smudging on the side of his plush, pink lips.

 

The older man doesn’t try to hide his gummy smile, which grows as he watches Jongin unsuspectingly munch away. He lets a chuckle slip past his lips as he reaches over to wipe away the small patch of red from the corner of the other’s lips, which happens to be the moment Jongin mutters a “goodbye” into the phone before setting it down.

 

Jongin can feel the pad of Yifan’s thumb gently skim from his parted lips and down to the corner, before pulling away slowly, his gaze being held by the other’s firm - yet soft - one.

 

The loud chorus of _Aww_ ’s from the table beside him breaks him from his trance, and at the sudden realisation that Yifan was feeding him and had wiped sauce away from his mouth has his face turning almost as red as the ketchup on the other’s finger.

 

And O _h_ , was Yifan licking his fingers? Did he just lick the ketchup from Jongin’s lips off of his own hand?

 

Oh _god,_ why was he still holding the eye contact?

 

Jongin needed someone to save him,   _fast,_ because he was sure he was about to implode any second.

 

...Or he could try and have a little fun for himself, too.

 

He didn’t exactly know what he was going to do, but he did know that he was sick of being the blushing middle school kid when he was around the neighbour.

 

It was time to turn the tables.

 

He might not have been the most confident person, but years of dance had taught Jongin how to change his persona into something completely _different_. He’d practiced transforming into something more alluring and sensual - rather than the shy and dorky kid he was currently. Up until this point, the hours spent in front of the mirror mastering the expression had been reserved for use on stage only, today that was going to change.

 

He doesn’t have much to work with, the only things he has a quick access to are his phone, and the food in front of them, but he _has_ to make it work somehow.

 

He decides on the drink and gets to work. He lifts the cup and directs the straw towards his mouth before slipping his tongue out slightly to guide it the rest of the way. As he sucks the drink up through the straw he makes sure to angle his head to the side slightly so that Yifan has a perfect view of his adam's apple working up and down in his throat as he swallows. The actions are subtle enough to make them seem unintentional so he pretends to remain oblivious to the looks Yifan is sending him - his plan is working.

 

But, what next? what does he do now? He hadn't thought of the plan, and he has succeeded only this far through, and it seems like that is going to be the fatal error in his plan.  

 

Maybe he could just play it off like nothing happened? That seemed like his best option at this point. He’d kept his previous approach subtle so maybe if he dropped the act now Yifan wouldn’t think anything of it. It’s what he hoped anyway.

 

… Or maybe he could keep Yifan on edge. Just as he gets comfortable again Jongin could act flirtatious. He’d done the switching between his two different expression sets before - when he was performing, he had even done it once when he was messing around with his friend Kyungsoo (when Jongin had wanted to prove a point to him).

 

Either way, he needed to act normal right now, and move on.

 

“That was the landlord on the phone before. He said that he has organised for someone to come and fix the wall tonight so if we just take all the supplies back to the apartment then they will sort all the rest out. They are supposed to arrive in about two hours, so I really should go back and tidy up the apartment a little before they get there.”

 

He knows it is a lame excuse to leave the pizza place and get out of the direct gaze of Yifan as he sits opposite him, but he isn't lying - he really does need to tidy up the apartment before the repair man arrives.

 

What he had not thought through was the fact that _Yifan_ was his ride home, and that _Yifan_ also had all the supplies they needed.

 

To his credit, Yifan does a good job at masking the shocked expression he had been wearing moments prior. He gathers up the leftover food into the box,stands up to leave before turning towards Jongin, and shooting a quick “Okay, sure. Let's go.” in his direction.

 

It was nothing major but the way that Yifan turned towards him was enough to make Jongin freeze in his seat. That was the moment Jongin knew that he was fucked.

  


The car ride was eventful, to say.

 

It started off pretty innocent. The radio was playing in the background and Jongin was comfortable — until Yifan started messing with him that was.

 

Jongin should’ve known what was going to happen, really. He was in a car with Yifan - the guy who had been teasing him all day. Of course he was going to take the chance to make a move while they were in an closed space, especially after what Jongin had done to him in the pizza place earlier.

 

He saw Yifan move his arm towards the centre console between them out of the corner of his eye, but didn't think anything of it, that was until the hand landed on his thigh instead of the gear shift that Jongin had originally assumed he was reaching for.

 

He froze. He tries not to show how much the hand is affecting him but _oh my god, where is that hand going?_

 

Maybe it was just a mistake. That’s possible right? Yifan had gone to change the gear but his hand had overshot and landed on Jongin's thigh instead. That was a reasonable explanation right?

 

_Wrong._

 

If it had been a mistake Yifan would've moved his hand by now, and to be fair he had moved it, but instead of moving it away from Jongin’s thigh - he was moving it _up_ his thigh.

 

It seems like Jongin’s earlier plan was definitely backfiring on him at this point.

 

His body also wasn't helping. The ... reaction he was having to the teasing was starting to become apparent and Jongin had never felt so betrayed by his body before in his life.

 

The world certainly hates him at this point, because Yifan seems to notice his growing problem and gave Jongin’s thigh a quick pat before retracting his hand with a pleased smirk on his face.

 

The groan Jongin lets out is one of annoyance, but neither person in the car knows if it is annoyance at the situation that had just taken place, or if it was annoyance at the fact that the situation had stopped.

 

Not for the first time in the last 24 hours, Jongin needed someone to save him from himself.

  


They get back to the apartment block a couple minutes later and Jongin adjusts himself a few times after getting out of the car to try and make his “problem” less noticeable (he isn't very successful).

 

It’s safe to say that he is looking forward to some time alone in his apartment to tidy up the mess on his floor slightly before the repairman arrives, and maybe fix his own problem that doesn't seem to be going away by itself as well.

 

What he doesn't expect is for the knock that comes on his door only ten minutes later.

 

A brief glance towards the clock on the wall tells him that they had taken much longer than he had thought to get back to the apartment building and he could safely assume that the knocking was the repairman.

 

To say his apartment was not ready would be an understatement.

 

He makes his way towards the door anyway and opens it to find a man in denim overalls. His overalls are stained with what appears to be white splotches of paint, and are being worn over a t-shirt, and a baseball cap tipped slightly on his head. At first, Jongin pauses before realising that if this was the repairman the landlord sent to mend their wall, then he would actually need to come inside to do so.

 

He also notices Yifan standing behind the man and comes up with an idea (he doesn't know why he hadn't thought of it before).

 

“I actually think it would be better if we tried to fix the hole from the other side.  Because I pushed the wall _into_ his apartment, it would make it easier to repair from that side, right?” As far as he knew, the excuse was absolute bullshit, but the repairman seemed to agree after thinking it over, and the three of them walked next door, much to Jongin's relief.

 

They make it to Yifan’s door before Jongin realises that he hasn’t even heard the repairman speak yet.

 

“Also, what’s your name? We didn't get told, since it was our landlord that called you.”

 

The man seems friendly, sticking out a gloved hand to him and Yifan, and smiling widely. “I’m Lu Han, nice to meet you. You two Jongin and Yifan, right? I heard you had a wall problem?”

 

Jongin nods dumbly, too occupied in looking the man (boy?) over to reply properly, his youthful face and pretty features really making him seem like just some kid.

 

Yifan reaching his hand out towards Lu Han is what finally snaps Jongin back to reality. The two shake his hand, getting pleasantries out of the way before they actually enter into Yifan’s apartment. It’s at this point that Jongin remembers that although Yifan had been in his apartment before, Jongin had never entered Yifan’s. He can’t stop himself from looking around the apartment as Yifan shows Lu Han where the hole that needs repairing is (it was quite an obvious hole but Yifan showed him out of courtesy anyway).

 

Lu Han squats in front of the hole that Jongin had so graciously bestowed on Yifan’s wall, and gives it a quick examination before raising his eyebrows and whistling. Jongin knew it was bad, but seeing Lu Han's reaction to the mess he had created made him want to hide in embarrassment all over again.

 

Jongin watches as Lu Han stands up and turns to face the pair once again, “How’d this get here?”

 

His gaze flickers curiously between Yifan and Jongin, and it’s pretty easy for the two of them to figure out that the man believes the damage to the building in front of him was the result of a lover’s spat going out of control.

 

Jongin quickly waves his hands in front of him as in defense, eyes widening slightly and lips parting in a stutter as he explains the situation. “A-Ah, it’s not what you think! I live next door, and I tripped and uh…that happened….”

 

He trails off, letting out a nervous laugh as he rubs the nape of his neck to try and reduce his — almost constant — embarrassment he had been feeling for the last day.

 

Lu Han seemed surprisingly satisfied with the answer, and quickly got to work after turning around. Yifan and Jongin settle for sitting on Yifan’s bed, Jongin taking to his phone while Yifan flips open a magazine, everyone in the room settling to the quiet clatter of tools while Lu Han works on the wall.

 

It’s only a few minutes later that Jongin is jostled from his meticulous scrolling through Instagram, by Lu Han saying, “It’s kind of funny, y’know?”

 

“That you two are staying in different apartments.” He answers before Yifan or Jongin can ask what he means, and turns to face both of them with a gleeful smile.

 

“What do you mean?” Yifan asks out of simple curiosity, sitting up to stretch. The sudden movement on the mattress causes Jongin to slip a bit closer to Yifan, and blushes as he tries to slip back to his spot towards the edge of the bed.

 

Lu Han shrugs languidly as he reaches for his water. Both Jongin and Yifan are staring at him, waiting for what he has to say as he places the bottle down, taking his time to screw on the cap before continuing, “I dunno. Considering you guys are together, I thought you’d just stay in the same apartment.”

 

Jongin lets out a strange gurgling sound, alerting both Lu Han and Yifan once again to his presence in the room and causing them to snap their heads in Jongin’s direction. He hides his face in his hands as he rolls back onto the mattress to hide his embarrassment.

 

Teenage-girl-around-her-crush-Jongin strikes again.

 

When Lu Han completes the repair of the wall it’s already really dark outside.

 

“I will come back and paint the walls tomorrow, if that's okay with you? The colour of the patch of repaired wall does not match the rest of the room yet, sorry.”

 

Both Yifan and Jongin assure him that he can complete the repair the next day, and he leaves with a smile and quick farewell.

 

“I guess I should go back to my apartment, and get some sleep then,” honestly speaking, Jongin had no reason to stay in Yifan’s apartment while the repair was being completed, considering he hadn't helped the process in anyway while staying on Yifan’s bed. The truth was that he just didn't want to leave Yifan's company (and his apartment happened to much warmer than his own, too). “I’ll see you tomorrow,  I guess?”

 

“Wait— Jongin, you can stay for dinner, if you’d like? I know you don't have much at your place and we still have some left overs from earlier if you’d like to share? Or, we could have something else if you’d prefer it. I was actually thinking of making some spaghetti earlier.”

 

Did he just get asked to say over? _Oh my god?_ Jongin tries to stay calm, be he’s pretty certain some of the joy and nervousness he’s experiencing is showing. For fucks sake Jongin, act normal, and don’t fuck this up. “Sure, that sounds nice. And, I will admit that I don’t really know how to cook much, but I want to help. If you tell me what to do, then we should be okay.”

 

Jongin enjoys having someone to spend his afternoons with, for once. Since moving out, he hadn't had much social interaction outside of his dance lessons. It hadn't even been two full days since his little incident with the wall, but honestly Jongin was starting to really thank his messy floor and clumsy nature.

 

He was enjoying having Yifan around a lot more than he would have expected when they first met.

 

He was pulled out of his thoughts when he felt Yifan reaching around him in the small kitchen. He was trying to focus on chopping up some of the vegetables in front of him but the body pressing up against his back was extremely distracting and Jongin’s mind went into overdrive. Jongin could see that Yifan was just reaching around him to grab the salt that was positioned in front of Jongin, but for some reason he seemed to be taking a lot longer and putting more pressure onto Jongin's body than was necessary.

 

And then it was gone.

 

It was at that moment that Jongin decided he’d had enough of Yifan teasing him throughout the day, and Jongin decided that now was the time for suggestive Jongin to make a comeback.

 

What he wasn’t expecting, though, was for Yifan to be staring down at him . Jongin had never really thought about the height difference between them before now, and the way that Yifan was moving closer and looking down towards him wasn’t making Jongin feel any taller.

 

For the first time in ages, Jongin felt short, _and he liked it_.

 

The slight smirk Jongin sent Yifan was enough for him to make his move. Yifan took the final step towards him, pushed up against his body, forcing Jongin to lose balance slightly and move backwards, too.

 

That was how Jongin found himself pressed up against the wall with Yifan’s lips moving against his. Jongin blames the adrenaline filling his body for pressing closer to Yifan, rather than moving away like he _knew_ he should have, but he had to admit to himself —this had been what he’d wanted to happen ever since the hardware store this morning.

 

When Yifan gently sucks Jongin’s bottom lip, Jongin can't help the gentle gasp that falls from his mouth at the feeling. He fumbles to keep up, pressing closer, cupping Yifan’s cheek with a trembling hand.

 

It was new, scary and thrilling feeling, but it made Jongin think, too.

 

It was then that Jongin really realised that the way he felt towards Yifan was more than what normal friends feel for each other, it was also then that he realised that those feelings were something he could get use to when it came to Yifan.

 

The moment was ruined when the water started to boil over in the pot and Yifan rushed off to save it. There was still a smile on Jongin’s face, a blush dusting his cheeks as he watched Yifan try to frantically save the kitchen from boiling water, so maybe the moment hadn’t been ruined after all.

 

Normally, Jongin’s routine would've had him curled up on his couch by now, and dozing off to the dramas showing on TV. The couch in his living room and the blankets from his bed had become his new favourite things since moving out, as they helped to make up for his malfunctioning heater as well as poorly imitating the embrace of another, letting Jongin forget just how lonely his life was for a couple hours a day.

 

But, to say the least, nothing in the last 24 hours had exactly followed Jongin’s normal “routine”.

 

Tonight was a little bit different — although Jongin _does_ find himself on a couch, the couch doesn’t belong to him. That wasn’t the biggest difference to his normal arrangement, the biggest difference was that instead of the blankets that Jongin normally piled under to keep warm, there was now two arms wrapped around his shoulders. He wasn’t complaining though, he had to admit that he did enjoy the feeling of Yifan holding him in a comfortable embrace more than the itchiness his blankets had sometimes. He also didn't think twice before nuzzling in closer to his neighbours chest - for warmth of course.

 

It isn’t long before soft snores start to escape Yifan’s mouth, indicating that he had drifted off while continuing to hold Jongin. He takes that as his cue to leave, and tries to disentangle himself from the sleeping body behind him as quietly as possible, but the arms around his waist only tighten when he tries to get up. He freezes in his place as he waits for the unconscious Yifan to loosen his grip slightly so he can continue with his escape but, gives up all together when he hears the quiet “Sleep here, tonight…” slip past the other’s lips before he resumes snoring.

 

If Jongin had been reluctant to leave before, it was easy to say that he absolutely didn't have the will to leave and spend another night alone in his own apartment after the mumbled comment. The way that Yifan seemed to scrunch his nose in his sleep was the final punch that causes Jongin’s final wall to crumble and spend the night in his neighbor's apartment.

 

With a sigh, he settles back onto the couch, trying his hardest to keep at least a slight space between their bodies on the small couch. It proves futile as strong arms pull him in once again and maneuver Jongin into a position that has Yifan spread on the couch on his back, with Jongin practically on top of him. It doesn’t take long for him to fall asleep, listening to Yifan’s deep breathing, and the slow, steady pound of his heart.

 

Jongin was many things, but something he was _not_ was a light sleeper.

 

This fact proved itself true once again the next morning.

 

When he wakes up the next morning he is shocked to see Lu Han crouching over his tools and working on the almost perfectly mended wall just a few metres away from him. How long had he been working in the apartment before Jongin had woken up?

 

A slight chill runs down Jongin’s back, he finally notices a lack of heat as he rubs the sleep from his eyes. He surveys the rest of the room around him, and realises he’s now alone on the couch with a blanket carefully placed on him.

 

Yifan is nowhere to be seen and Jongin decides to investigate the situation around him. He collects the blanket and wraps it around his shoulders before standing up and walking towards the repairman, who looks towards him and greets Jongin when he notices Jongin is awake.

 

“Good morning. I hope that I didn’t wake you up.” Lu Han smiles. “I think Yifan is in the room over there if you are looking for him,” Lu Han continues to smile up at Jongin from where he’s working on the wall, and Jongin is confused about how anyone could be so happy at this time of the day.

 

He thanks Lu Han before following the direction that the man had said Yifan had gone. Jongin had only ever been in the main part of Yifan’s apartment before, but it seemed to be set up the same way as his, so he assumed that the door he was walking towards lead to the bedroom.

 

The door is open slightly, he peeks his head in first, and spots Yifan standing near the bed, a hand on his hip and his other holding a steaming mug. Yifan is still in the t-shirt and long flannel pants that he had fallen asleep in last night, but he looks much more awake then Jongin guesses he must look himself.

 

“Oh, you’re up!” Jongin steps further into the room after Yifan notices his presence at the door. “I made Lu Han and I some tea earlier but you were still asleep. There is still some hot water if you would like some too,” Jongin watches as Yifan looks him up and down once before chuckling at the blanket Jongin was holding onto. “I guess it is pretty cold in here, sorry. The heater doesn’t work very well. How about I go and make tea for you to help you warm up?”

 

The next hour mainly consists of Lu Han finishing the wall while Yifan and Jongin sat together on the couch and talked to him. Jongin didn’t notice how much progress Lu Han had actually made before the man was announcing that  _ “the wall is fixed!"  _ with yet  _ another _ smile. Jongin and Yifan split the repair cost even after Jongin insists to pay it himself because  _ “I was the one that fell  _ through  _ the wall, not you”.  _

 

A fixed wall meant that Jongin didn’t have an excuse to stay at Yifan’s apartment anymore (not that it had really made sense to do so in the first place), and he didn’t want it — whatever they had formed together over the last couple days — to be forgotten when he went back to his own apartment. 

 

Jongin decided to do something that he would’ve never imagined himself doing in the past. Just as he was about to exit Yifan’s apartment, he turned towards Yifan and hesitantly asked "Would you…um… like to get dinner with me sometime?"

 

It seemed to take Yifan by surprise, but much to Jongin’s delight he answered with a smile and a simple “ _ Sure. Just tell me where and when and I’ll be there." _

  
  


So sure, in hindsight Jongin really should’ve known that his messy apartment would get him in some sort of trouble sooner or later, but he was happy that everything turned out the way it did. 

 

Once again, Jongin was Jongin, he was lazy, and if there was one thing he was worst at in the world it would be socialising with strangers. But thanks to a messy room, a broken wall, and some false confidence, he’d managed to form a new friendship with someone he had never spoken to before, and that friendship also seemed to have the potential to evolve into something more. 

 

Maybe the universe didn’t hate Jongin after all, maybe it just had a strange way of helping him out.

 

He wasn’t complaining though.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading xxx
> 
> You can find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/braceskibum) if you want (come talk to me about stuff)


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